Blood testing cabinet



Jan. 8, 1946.

G. -H. HILL 2,392,322

BLOOD TESTING CABINET Filed sept. '27, 1940 /0 f, /la a Il o n ol,

l: il --/6 Il i Il l o M [kil-w F my -2O 7 f@ a/ 'INV-ENTOR' Gaaf/er H H/Lz.

ATTORNY Patented Jan. 8, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT o1=1=lcE BLOOD TESTING CABINET Gilbert H. Hill, Fostoria, Iowa, assignor of onef half to Ray V. Bailey,- Davenport, Iowa Application September 27, 1940, Serial No. 358,577

2 Claims.` (Cl. 119-15) This invention relates `to cabinets employed in testing poultry; more specifically it provides a unique cabinet suitable for use in sorting poultry and other animals in testing for various diseases and imperfections. i

In connection with the operation of baby chick hatcheries it is the custom for the operator to test the flocks of chickens from which he expects to obtain eggs to supply his hatchery. It is the normal procedure for the operator to visit each supply farm and test each individual bird for disease, especially pullorum. In conducting the test each bird is normally taken from a coopl by an assistant and handed to the tester who takes a sample of blood from the wing and then places the bird in a common box to await the outcome of the test. After a short but appreciable period the disease." Testing several 'large flocks of birds4 in this manner requires not only a very considerable amount of time but also the services of three persons.

It is an object of my invention to' provide a multicompartment cabinet adapted to materially increase the speed and decrease the man-power required in testing flocks of poultry for disease,

It is another object of this invention to provide a cabinet `having one or more compartments into which birds may readily be placed and from which they may quickly and easily be removed.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a multi-compartment cabinet capable of supporting a hot plate testing unit, said individual compartments being readily accessible for the introduction and removal of birds.

A still further object of thisinvention is to provide a testing cabinet having a multiplicity of separated compartments side by side, each individual compartment being provided with a swinging vertical door and a trap bottom door, all of said doors being easily operable by a person in front of the cabinet.

The general construction of my` invention in its preferred form comprises a series of individual compartments, of a size such that they are each capable of receiving an individual fullgrown fowl, arranged side by side in a cabinet having substantial length. Leg members are secured to the cabinet in such a manner that the top of said cabinet is at such a height that it is readily accessible to a standing man and its bottom is raised substantially .above the ground. The bottom of the cabinet consists of a series of trap doors, each forming the floorof one of the compartments comprisingsaid cabinet. In the front of the cabinet are a series of vertical swinging doors hinged at-the top. Each of said vertical swinging doors comprises the upper part of the front of an individual compartment. The

lower portion of the' front of the cabinet and compartments is stationary and serves as a stop to regulate the outward swing of the hinged vertical doors.

In order that a more complete and clear understanding 'of my invention may be had reference should be made to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof of which Fig. 1 is an elevation view showing the front of a cabinet embodying the preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the cabinet shown in Fig. 1 taken on the line 2-2 thereof.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the cabinet taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l. f

Fig. 4 is a. fragmentary elevation of the rear of the cabinet.

The top 5 and the rear 6 of the cabinet may be2 continuous panels of any suitable material such as sheet metal. The legs 1, which support the cabinet in a spaced position from the ground, extend along the entire height of the cabinet at the corners, as this construction provides greater rigidity and durability in the structure. The said legs 1 consist of lengths of angle-iron of suitable thickness. The vertical doors 8 which form the upper portion of the front of the cabinet are constructed from sheet metal and provided with rigidity by means of iianges 9 extending along each side and across the bottom thereof. The doors 8 are swingingly supported at their tops by means of strips I0 of sheet metal, each end ofv which is secured to the door 8 by means of the rivet I I and the folded center part of which hangs loosely over a wire. I2. The wire I2 extends through the length of the cabinet being supported by reason of its being folded into the returned flange'l3. Openings I4 are provided in the sheet metal around the wire I2 at the junctures at which the strips I II are supported by said wire I2 in order to enable said strips I0 to rotate somewhat around said wire vI2 thus permitting swinging motion in the doors 8. The doors 8 are prevented from swinging outwardly substantially beyond a vertical positionA by reason of the bottoms I5 of said doors coming into contact with the panel I6 which comprises the The trap doors 22 are reinforced by means ofv anges 23 extending along theiredges. The hinges 2| are of a spring type such that they I tend to close a trap door 22 after said door has been opened. The trap doors 22 are prevented from moving upwardly substantially beyond a horizontale' position by.. means oi. the flangev 24.'

The trap doors 22 are retainedin a rigid' closed position by means of latches 25 which engagev suitable U-shaped catches 26 securedy to the rear side of the cabinet adjacent the bottom thereof.

Chains 21 secured at their upper ends to the partitions I8 and at their lower ends to the, bolts 28' of the latches 25 serve, when pulled, to release the latches 25 and to swingv the? trap; doors/22 into a downwardly inclined position suchas that shown by the broken lines in Fig. 2 and the position othe open. door in Figfl. The rodzilwhichA extendsbetween they front legs; of the structure ata; point substantially belowv the bottom ofthe Acabinet proper serves as a reinforcing member Land; ralso as ameans for changing the direction ofithe pull of the ohainj2l to enable said chain tri-release the latch 25 and4 swing downwardly the door 22 as previously described.;

: YFor thesake, of clarity I- have described very speciicallythe construction of. thev `preferred form A of my invention. It is most obvious'that my invention is by no means; limited byv thisdetailE of construction or even o-thev precise form'here described for illustrative purposes. Among other things; hinges; of 'any suitable type mayy replace Y y the straps and wire construction here shown for supporting Vthe vertical swinging'doors 8,'and other suitable latching means may' replace the 1 latches 2.5.y and catches 26, or the'latches maybe Y omitted` entirelyv if` asu'lciently stiff yieldable;

means. lie-'employed' for holding theA trap doorsr 22 in a horizontal position. Again the. springsin the hinges: '2|' may lie-eliminatedA entirely and an independent spring be -employed. lio-accomplish their purpose, and theposition atv which theitrap. doors 22 are hingedY may be varied. The partitions I8 may be retained in position by any suitable methodf; moreover if rigidityl and durability` are not of foremost importance the flanges onY the doors, theiange t1, and thevangle-iron may be omit-` ted' and the ylegs 1 need not extendy the entire height of the! cabinet. Again the trap doors 22 may` form only a portion Vof the door of the re.- spective compartments. Further, the number of compartments contained in Ya given cabinetis; in

I y nowayinhe1'ent'in my invention.

g puttingy my invention into actual use in testing! i'or-' pullorumA thehatchery operator loads; thecabin'et, which is easily portable, `into his car or pick-up and takesit to' the residence of the farmrfwhose i'iock oi' poultry he desires4 to test. After unloading"the cabinet he places'ahot plate of the` type normally used in this connection on the top The hot'plate is divided into' a.r multiplicity ofsmall squares ontoeach of which of the cabinet.

the 'operator places asmall quantity of antigen'.

As. soon as his'A assistant has handed` him the rst` bird he takes. a test sample of its blood andfplaces it upon 4square No. 1' of thel-hotplate at the same timeV placing the bird' throughthe 'vertical door.v 65

l This' procedure is repeated. three times,V at the into the leit-harusl1 compartment of" the cabinet.

end-of whicheach of thecompartmentsof theY Y cabinet ycontains abird and there-is a bloodA sample 'n each of the first fourA squares of thev hotf plate; the sample on square 2' having been taken 'Y from the birdv in compartment 2 of the cabinet and soon. By'the time fourtests have been taken the first test may be read. This having been done the bird in Vcompartment 1 is either released or re-cooped depending ori whether or not itfis'a re` actor. As the operator places a blood sample from bird No. 5 on square No. 5y of the hot plate he places bird* No. 5 in ,compartment No. 1 of the cabin'et'and at'thesame; timev readsfthe test for bird'NofZ; Ifbird No. 2" is'a nonireactor, as

is normally the case, he pulls the proper chain releasing bird No. 2 through the trap door.- As

heplacesl bird No. 6 in compartment. No. 2 and places. its, blood, sample on square No. 6 of the hot plate, he' reads the test for bird No. 3. This routine is repeated until the entire flock has been tested. `In: case ai bird is a reactor it is removed fronrtheA compartment through the vertical door and' re-cooped.

Through the. use, of my invention it isr possible for two mento do the work that formerly-'ra quired the services ofi'fhreey personsand maddi-` tion-ft very materially enhances the speed at which the testing process may bfefcarried; on for it providesV especially accessible and very rapidly operating facilitiesior handling the. individual birds. Moreover, it permits the operator` to :func-v tion very eiiiciently for in` addition tov eliminatingthe necessity of Waitingfortest reactions .it enables him to perform a` number of functions si multaneously.

Thej material fromfrwhich myrnovel cabinetfis; y

constituted' is not essential to, myinvention'howeven sheet metal,l Yexpanded metaland heavyv vmesh are considered the.l most adaptable;

A number'of'modifieationsof my blood test', ing cabinet; in' its preferred,y form may be; vmade without departing Vfrom the, spirit -andi'scope of' my invention; therefore I, wish to be'limited herein only by thefprior artv and; the,appended` claims.

Having thus described mymiren-tion;` what vI claim and desire to secure by Letters,Patent-is:A

1. A cabinet for temporarilyV retaining; animals comprising a housing, partitionsfwithin; said housfing dividing it; into ay loorizontalY row'of: compart- Y sition, latching means for securing said trap door rigidly in a horizontal' position, means;v forreleas--- ing said latchi-rig inean's land for moving saidA trap, door into a downwardly inclined position, saidy releasing and moving. means being 'readilyI operable by a person in front oi the cabinet-(and legs for supporting said housing-- in;A a -spacediv position above the ground.'v

2. A cabinet of the type described'comprising a plurality of compartments. al door-imap ex-A posedVl side, other' than the bottom sideof each compartment,a trap doorv in the2 bottom', side of' each compartment .formingat least; a, portion yoi the floor of-each compartmentJ andvopening tothey outsidej of said cabinet, latcli,l means` irmlucl-l` ing a yieldably retractable member for retaining said' trap; door in a closed position at; times;,means forV swinging said trap doordownwardly, means forf automaticallyclosing saidtrap-door placing the said latch in operatve engagementy and legs supporting said compartments in spacodrelation to tlieground.` y Y GILBERTgH. 

